How to Get a Prop 215 Card in California (Online)

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The California cannabis industry is booming and, thanks to technology, it’s easier than ever to become a legal cannabis patient (by getting your prop 215 card) and gain access to all that this incredible herb has to offer.

Instead of going through a cumbersome, stress-amplifying experience of seeing a doctor in-person for your MMJ evaluation, you can complete the entire process online from any internet connected device, right from the comfort of home.

Of course, if you’re like most people, you probably have questions about the who, what, where, how and why, and we’ll seek to answer all of them in this article.

How do I Become Prop 215 Compliant?

When Proposition 215 and California Senate Bill 420 passed in the state of California, people seeking to use marijuana for medical purposes became able to be issued a recommendation from a licenced medical practitioner for the legal use of cannabis.

Doctors and physicians issue these prop 215 recommendations in lieu of a writing a prescription, since marijuana is not federally legal.

A recommendation, often simply referred to as a “rec,” (but also commonly quoted as a Prop 215 card/certification) is a doctor-issued transcript that is recognized statewide, and it’s what you will need in order to legally access MMJ dispensaries and collectives.

Possessing this document also protects you from unjust legal prosecution for the possession (see your county’s local possession limits), transportation, or personal consumption of medical cannabis. That being said, after the passing of Prop 64 in California (which legalized recreational cannabis), you can expect to see far less people getting in trouble with the law if cannabis is involved.

But what are the rules for getting a prop 215 card? Actually, they’re not very restrictive.

Not only can patients suffering from serious medical illnesses and conditions such as AIDS, cancer, and gastrointestinal disorders take advantage of the medical potential and benefits of cannabis use, people who are also experiencing pain and discomfort from ailments that can be relieved by cannabis can be issued a recommendation as well.

There’s no specific malady that a patient is required to be diagnosed with in order to request a recommendation. In fact, the writers of Prop 215 deliberately made the language such that most people in California would be eligible for medical cannabis one way or another.

However, this does present a very different issue; Giving a recommendation to a patient is totally up to the doctor’s discretion, so stopping by your regular physician for your rec might actually end up leaving you walking out empty handed. Simply put, if the doctor doesn’t want you to have weed, you don’t get weed. And most primary care doctors in the U.S. still haven’t hopped aboard the pro-weed train.

Since this is a pretty common issue that patients encounter, some doctors have set up offices that get straight to the point. Their traditional walk-in offices are specifically designated for patients to come in and speak with the doctor face to face, so that they can give the patient an evaluation to determine if they are eligible for a cannabis recommendation.

These 420 evaluations are speciality services, and can end up being pretty pricey, especially if you’re looking to get a medical marijuana ID card as well. Prices can sometimes run you upwards of $100. And if you’re looking to get a prop 215 grower’s permit, that’ll run you even more.

Luckily, there are online services that save patients the trouble of having to find a doctor themselves, and helps them take care of the process in less than 10 minutes, totally online from any internet connected device. We’ll get to that shortly.

What is a prop 215 recommendation? Is it different than a prop 215 card?

After getting an evaluation, and assuming that you qualify (which, like we said, isn’t very hard), a 420 doctor will issue you a recommendation.

This recommendation comes in the form of a full-sized 8.5”x11” sheet of paper, embossed with an official seal, and signed by the providing doctor. It allows a person to both access and order from dispensaries and delivery services, and also protects them legally.

Getting a medical marijuana ID card is completely voluntary, but has its benefits. In order to get your card, you’ll first need your evaluation and recommendation. The card provided is wallet-sized and much more convenient to carry around with you than a full piece of paper. It also includes a patient ID number which dispensaries and law enforcement can use for direct patient status verification.

The 420 card provider that a patient will want to choose depends on the level of discretion they prefer. The government provides a cannabis card service called the Medical Marijuana Identification Card Program (MMICP). This program assigns an ID number to the patient, that is then registered to the California Department of Public Health database, which can be accessed online for quick verification.

While this service may seem easy, it can also prove to be quite troublesome for people who want to be more discreet. Because the database is 100% public, a person’s patient status can easily be found by anyone, including friends, family, and employers. The service is also costly and include unwanted extra fees.

However, for those who want to keep it more low-key (and save money), there are alternative services available with confidential verification services that are 100% legal. If you want to know more about them, we’ll recommend a third party service in the next sectoin that provides completely confidential cannabis evaluations, recommendations, and ID cards for only $39.

Where do I go to get my medical marijuana card online?

If you’re looking to skip the wait (and the complicated process) that comes along with going to the weed doctor, just find any internet connected device and head on over to NuggMD.com.

California cannabis seekers live in the age of convenience, and why waste the time on something that you can do from your house? In the same amount of time it takes to search for “cannabis evaluations near me,” you can get both your cannabis recommendation and card online, and instantly access the plethora of goodies available for MMJ patients.

NuggMD provides a legal cannabis evaluation & recommendation-issuing service that allows patients to easily become a legal patient through a quick chat with a licensed California doctor.

In a mind-blowingly short amount of time, you can get your official documentation that will allow you to order from nearby medical marijuana delivery services, all for only $39. (The service cost $59 if you opt for the optional ID card, and $139 if you decide to get the prop 215 grower’s permit).

The process is incredibly simple. First, upload your related medical documents directly to the site and fill out a short questionnaire. Be sure to have a webcam ready, because you will then be connected directly with a doctor for a face-to-face evaluation.

The online medical marijuana evaluation doesn’t take any longer than 5 or 10 minutes and can be done from anywhere with a stable internet connection, so anyone with a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or any other Wi-Fi enabled device can certainly take advantage of it.

If you’re approved, you will be mailed your official hard-copy cannabis recommendation on the very same day. The document is also sent to you via e-mail in PDF format, so it can be printed out for immediate use or used to order delivery online through Getnugg.com (which is recommended).

In the case that you are not approved, you won’t be billed at all, so there’s no financial weight on your shoulders if you don’t get your documents.

If you want to take the extra step, for an additional $20, you also have the option of getting your official Prop 215 license ID card online. This is the service that we mentioned earlier that provides confidential cannabis cards to people who want to keep their cannabis use away from prying eyes.

To verify a patient’s legal status, a patient ID number is provided on the card, along with a phone number and website that dispensaries and law enforcement can contact instead of using the public database on the Department of Public Health’s website. The card also includes the doctor’s signature and official government seal that is required in order to be legally recognized.

NuggMD’s online service encompasses everything you need to gain access to the cannabis industry, so no matter if you’re a first time patient or a cannabis vet, you can hop online and take advantage of their quick and convenient evaluation, recommendation, renewal, and card issuing services.

What’s even better, is that by using this service, you get $20 off of your first delivery order through Nugg’s online delivery marketplace (available all across California), saving you even more time and money than you could have ever imagined.

And if for whatever reason you still want to visit a medical marijuana doctor in-person, it’s quite easy to find one in every major metro of California, from San Jose to Los Angeles and San Diego.

How long will my cannabis card be valid for?

Both your recommendation and card will be valid for one year, no matter if you get it directly from a walk-in evaluation or online.

When it expires, you will need to get a renewal in order to legally possess cannabis and access the industry in any form. And yes, that includes going into dispensaries. Even if you’ve been previously registered with a dispensary or a collective, if your documents have expired, you will have to renew them before you go in or place a delivery order.

That being said, come 2018, when recreational dispensaries begin to serve the public, you technically won’t need a doctor’s recommendation anymore (although having one will allow you to avoid hefty taxes that will apply to sales of recreational weed).

If you got your legal medical documents anywhere outside of the state of California, they will not be legally recognized. Patients are required to have documentation that’s issued officially by the state in order to qualify for use in California.

However, your California rec will be recognized by some states where cannabis has been legalized for medical use, and you don’t need to be a California resident to get a recommendation here (any U.S. issued ID will suffice).
So there you have it folks, how to get a weed card online, and how to order cannabis delivery immediately afterwards (and don’t forget you get a $20 free credit when you use NuggMD for your cannabis evaluation).